The prior art is replete with devices for anchoring objects to surfaces. For example, commonly available hollow-wall anchors are used to anchor pictures, mirrors, and other household objects to walls and doors. The hollow-wall anchor consists of a thin-wall split cylinder surrounding a screw that runs the length of the split cylinder, with the tip of the screw screwed into the threaded solid end of the split cylinder. To anchor the device to a wall, the user inserts it into a hole drilled into the wall, and tightens the screw, thereby creating a compressive load on the split cylinder. Tightening the screw further eventually causes the thin walls of the split cylinder to buckle, ultimately collapsing against the inner surface of the hollow wall. There are three factors that limit the applications of such devices. First, it is highly desirable to anchor objects to surfaces without using screws or adhesives, because doing so can speed installation, increase reliability, and minimize cost.
Second, expanding appendages take up space on the inner side of slabs, thereby preventing expanding anchors from being closely packed together. Closely packed components are important for electronic applications because the overall size of the electronics package affects both its cost and utility. Accordingly, the footprint of mechanically mounted components must be as small as possible on both sides of printed wiring boards. Further, the distance that anchoring devices protrudes beyond the underside of the board must be minimized to avoid interference with other objects in the electrical assembly.
Third, some applications require objects to be loosely, but securely, anchored to the slab. Although devices such as hollow-wall anchors can loosely anchor objects to a slab (or hollow wall) by simply loosening the screw from its tightest position, loose screws are not secure and typically loosen further over time. Uncontrolled loosening can foil the operation of those applications that depend upon precise separation between the slab and the anchored object. Such applications include check valves, for example. This is because all check vales incorporate elements, such as a diaphragm or plate, which must move to allow gases or fluids to pass through the valves in only one direction. The motion of the moveable element must be precisely constrained for check valves to perform reliably over time. Hence, loose screws are not suitable restraining mechanisms for such applications.
Dual anchor devices are commonly found in the field of electronics for coupling one electrical cable to another. Such couplers may be either panel-mounted on unmounted. In both cases, the active latching mechanism is typically incorporated in the end of the cables, not in the coupler. Further, in no case is the coupler a compound anchor wherein a first latching mechanism is the base for a second latching mechanism.